


Inner Peace

by Stuffulkins



Series: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate: Luigi's Tale [3]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Acceptance, Self-Worth Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stuffulkins/pseuds/Stuffulkins
Summary: 30 days in a row without a nightmare after 14 months of suffering. Luigi is finally ready to face his internal demons. With Simon, Richter, and Mario by his side, he will prove himself worthy of the Vampire Killer.
Series: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate: Luigi's Tale [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771558
Comments: 18
Kudos: 14





	Inner Peace

October 25, 2019

* * *

Mario asked Luigi how he slept the previous night.

“Alright.”

The older brother secretly pulled out a small journal he had kept under their bunk bed. He looked at the number he wrote on the previous day in the top right corner of the page: "29." He then wrote the next number in sequence on the same spot on the next page, smiling: "30." He felt bittersweet about it really. All that time. His brother had never been the same since that day: the sleepless nights, his irregular eating habits, silent crying, and general loss of interest and joy. But hope at last seemed on the horizon. Mario set it down where Luigi couldn’t see it.

“Hey Bro,” Luigi said. “Aren’t you-a gonna grab some breakfast?”

A slightly startled Mario took a bit to recover from having his train of thought interrupted. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Something clicked with Luigi about the significance of this particular morning. “Has it really been thirty days?”

Mario feigned a bit of aloofness. “Oh yeah, how could I possibly forget?”

They then heard someone knocking on their door.

“Who is it?” the brothers asked simultaneously.

“It’s me, Richter.” Luigi opened the door to find the younger Belmont standing outside. “You sleep well? Is today the day?”

Luigi responded as he walked toward Richter. “Yes. It’s time.”

Richter looked at Mario next. “Hey Mario, are you sure you want to come too?”

“Of course,” Mario answered with a jolly, eager look on his face.

Richter led them to a secret location where Simon told them to meet. “We’re ready.”

Luigi waved at Simon.

Simon looked back at his pupil, shocked, but nevertheless with a smile of confidence. He cleared his room and lit a circle of torches surrounding him and Luigi. Mario and Richter stood just outside the circle.

Simon held out his sacred whip: The Vampire Killer. In turn, Luigi placed his hand on Simon’s.

“Are you absolutely sure about going through with this?” Simon asked Luigi.

“Yes.” Luigi gripped the Vampire Killer’s hilt and closed his eyes.

* * *

The moment Simon let go, Luigi felt as if he had been transported into an astral plane. He could feel the Poltergust G-00 still on his back, more powerful now that it had been upgraded with the Burst and Slam functions. Everything else was the same: the stones, the candles, the windows, the monsters. The younger brother kept muttering to himself that none of this was real.

Then, a growling sound cued that it was time to fight. Luigi was tempted to keep his eyes closed, but he slapped himself in the face until they opened. It surprised him so much that he was issuing his Death Stare for a brief moment before he broke it with astonishment. “I’m not going to fail. Not me. Not again.”

In front of him was the memory that had tormented him for so long; the countless nightmares, random crippling bursts of panic attacks, waves of ridicule and bullying: Death.

Death murmured with sinister glee, “You.”

“You’re nothing more than a memory, and your reign of terror ends today!”

“Your anger couldn’t be more misguided. If you wish for the castle to disappear into the abyss, you know what you must do.” Death grimaced pointing the other direction, inching ever closer. “That fear of yours, I can almost taste it.

Luigi's grip on the Poltergust's hilt tightened. “I won’t submit. I’m not going to run away. I'll protect my friends.”

“Friends? Why would anyone want to be friends with you?” Death’s voice echoed within Luigi’s mind. He placed his free hand on his head in pain. “They won’t miss you. Nobody will. They’ll all ignore you. They’ll all laugh at you.”

“This is true. No, It’s not! I can’t!”

Now…DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!” Death swung his scythe.

Luigi closed his eyes again and dodged on instinct. The wind may have nearly cost him his hat, but he was unscathed.

“WHAT? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?” Death then noticed himself being sucked into the Poltergust G-00. “Do you seriously think that toy is going to stop me?”

“It’s not a toy!” Luigi yelled putting all his strength into thrashing Death around like a ragdoll with such force that he dropped his scythe to the floor. Luigi nearly lost himself in his fury, but couldn’t quite vacuum Death’s skeleton, so he had to finish him off in another way, then he remembered: the whip. He still had it. He let go of Death, who was caught off by the red herring. The monster was then greeted with a spiked ball right in the skull.

Luigi's eyes gained a bright yellow glow. He stared at Death in the face once more. Death tried to make one last taunt out of desperation. “The only thing giving you your strength is a fairy tale! You will never overcome your fears. You will always be afraid of me!”

“You’re right, but I have my friends to protect me from what I can’t take care of myself. And like I said beforehand, I plow through castles all the time, so why should this one be any different? Besides, you’re already dead.”

“What?” Death cried.

Luigi then charged towards Death with the Vampire Killer, spiking the demon again before sucking him up and smashing the memory into hundreds of pieces and a cloak.

* * *

After his victory, Luigi awakened back into reality where the others awaited him. He was astonished that he was still holding the Vampire Killer—a feat that no other Fighter besides the Belmonts could accomplish without it draining their life force.

“Congratulations Boy. You have earned the true blessing of the holy whip.” Simon told Luigi.

Mario asked his dear brother how he was able to suddenly face the memory of Death head-on.

Luigi responded. “I don’t know. I just...I figured that as long as I have you guys by my side, everything is going to be okay. I really believe that.” All four of them smiled, the other three each giving Luigi a ginormous hug celebrating his accomplishments. His mind had made a big recovery.

Delighted, Mario and Simon started a new count. The following morning, Mario wrote down a new number: "31."


End file.
